Arrows Read Online Free Page B

some stupid rumor.” The music for my piece blasted from the speakers, but I couldn’t even remember what I was supposed to be doing. Jen knew something about my boyfriend before I did. So?
    I didn’t care.
    I didn’t care so hard that suddenly it was all I could think about. Across from us Juliette was nagging Svetlana about her form.
    “Call him.”
    I toyed with my phone. “He probably won’t answer.” I regretted saying that when I noticed the pitying expression on Peyton’s face. “I think he’s at football practice anyway.”

    Peyton led me across the room and out the screen door, which creaked as we snuck out, the sound of crickets sharpening. “They’ll hear Nell if she wakes up.” Peyton touched my elbow. “Call him. I know you want to.”
    The phone felt clammy in my hands. “Okay.” The narrow porch seemed to spiral as I leaned against the railing, each ring rattling my brain.
    Danny didn’t answer. I ended the call and tried to act like I didn’t care that he was ignoring me. “I’ll try him after rehearsal.”
    “Did you reply to Jen?”
    “No.”
    “If she ever messaged me about Nick, acting like she knew more about my boyfriend than I did—I’d flip the frick out on her.” Peyton pointed at me with her eyebrows raised.
    “It’s probably nothing.” My skin crawled with worry.
    “Maybe you should call her.”
    “No!” I clicked the power button, but there were no new messages. “I’ll stop by his house after rehearsal.” I smacked a mosquito on my leg. I really had to get back inside. I didn’t move.
    “Okay,” Peyton said. “Talk to him in person. Good. If you want, I’ll take Nell home for you. You can tell me all about it when you get back.”
    “Thanks. I’ll switch out the car seat.” I smiled, but I could tell she had a bad feeling about the message.
    The rest of rehearsal was agonizing.
    —

    My phone lit up as I was leaving, and for a second, my heart pounded so loud, I felt dizzy.
    The air rushed out of me as I read the display. Leah. “Hey, I can’t talk right now.”
    She was eating something loudly. Taffy, maybe. “Do you think you could pick me up a pack of smokes?”
    “You shouldn’t smoke.”
    “They’re not for me, they’re for Benjamin. He said if I…Well anyway. Pretty please? Just this once? I won’t ask again, I promise.”
    I hit the gas and racked my brain for an image of what Benjamin, the mentioned dimwit, looked like. The way Leah switched boyfriends, it was hard to keep them all straight. “I don’t supply cigarettes to minors.”
    “Uh-huh. Where are you going?”
    I felt a headache coming on, throbbing right between my eyes. “I have to stop at Danny’s.”
    “Tonight? Why?”
    “None of your bees. Peyton is dropping Nell off. I definitely don’t have time to stop at the gas station. I’m driving, so goodbye.”
    “Come on, Karma, please? Remember when you got pregnant and I helped you with everything, even the gross stuff?”
    “Stop it.”
    “I really need your help.”
    “I’m not going to help you date losers. I heard what you were doing at that party. Making out with two guys? I’m telling Mom to put you on birth control.”
    “Who told you that?” For a while the only sound was my tires on the gravel road. “Did Danny say something to you?”

    “It wasn’t Danny,” I lied. The sound of candy being unwrapped hurt my ear.
    “He has no business reporting what I do. You’d think he’d try to be nice to me after everything he did. Guess not.” She had her bratty-little-sister voice on. I could almost imagine the way she was blinking and bobbing her head. “Guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Tell him I said to worry about himself.”
    “For your information, Danny and I have moved on.”
    “How precious.”
    “Good luck getting your cigarettes.” I hung up.
    A dark mood filled me. Shana hadn’t meant anything to Danny, though Leah wouldn’t stop reminding me about her, the one-night stand Danny had